Substrate processing apparatus, substrate processing method and recording medium

ABSTRACT

An apparatus includes first load ports 2A and 2B and second load ports 2C and 2D provided in a left-right direction; a processing unit D2; an inspection module 4 provided between the first load ports 2A and 2B and the second load ports 2C and 2D; a first substrate transfer mechanism 5A provided at one side of the inspection module 4 in the left-right direction, and configured to transfer a substrate W into the processing unit D2 and a transfer container C on the first load ports 2A and 2B; a second substrate transfer mechanism 5B provided at the other side thereof, and configured to transfer the substrate W into the inspection module 4 and a transfer container C on the second load ports 2C and 2D; and a transit unit 51 for transferring the substrate W between the first and the second substrate transfer mechanisms 5A and 5B.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a divisional application of U.S. Ser. No. 16/802,796 filed Feb.27, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 16/006,007 filed onJun. 12, 2018, which claims the benefit of Japanese Patent ApplicationNo. 2017-118807 filed on Jun. 16, 2017, the entire disclosures of whichare incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The embodiments described herein pertain generally to a techniqueregarding a substrate processing apparatus equipped with an inspectionmodule configured to inspect a substrate.

BACKGROUND

In photolithography in a manufacturing process of a semiconductordevice, a resist film is formed by coating a resist on a surface of asemiconductor wafer (hereinafter, simply referred to as “wafer”) used asa substrate, and a resist pattern is formed by performing a developingprocessing after the resist film is exposed to light. A coating anddeveloping apparatus configured to perform the formation of the resistfilm and the developing processing may be equipped with an inspectionmodule for inspecting a surface state of the wafer before or after theindividual processings in the coating and developing apparatus areperformed.

If, however, this inspection module is provided, a space foraccommodating modules configured to process the wafer may be reduced.That is, for the reason of space limit, it may be difficult to provideor additionally provide the inspection module within the coating anddeveloping apparatus. Further, in order to perform the inspection withhigh accuracy, maintenance of the inspection module may be regularlyperformed, for example. Thus, the inspection module may need to beprovided in such a way to allow this maintenance to be performed easily.Thus, there is a demand for a technique capable of providing theinspection module within the apparatus while meeting all of theaforementioned requirements.

Patent Document 1 describes a coating and developing apparatus equippedwith a carrier block having a load port on which a carrier accommodatingwafers therein is placed; a processing block having a multiple number ofprocessing modules configured to process the wafers; and an interfacemodule configured to connect the processing block and an exposureapparatus. An inspection module is horizontally arranged with respect tothe carrier block. According to this apparatus configuration, however, afootprint of the apparatus is increased due to the presence of theinspection module. Moreover, since a transfer device for the waferprovided in the carrier block transfers the wafers to both theprocessing block and the inspection module, a load of the transferdevice may be larger, which may result in deterioration of a throughputof the apparatus. Thus, it is also required to suppress thedeterioration of the throughput of the apparatus and the increase of thefootprint of the apparatus which might be caused by providing theinspection module.

-   Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No.    2003-151878

SUMMARY

In view of the foregoing, exemplary embodiments provide a techniquecapable of achieving a high throughput in a substrate processingapparatus equipped with an inspection module configured to inspect asubstrate.

A substrate processing apparatus includes a first load port and a secondload port respectively provided at one side and the other side in aleft-right direction, and respectively configured to place thereon atransfer container accommodating a substrate therein; a processing unitconfigured to perform a processing on the substrate; an inspectionmodule provided between the first load port and the second load port inthe left-right direction, and configured to inspect the substrate beforeor after the processing by the processing unit is performed; a firstsubstrate transfer mechanism provided at one side of the inspectionmodule in the left-right direction, and configured to transfer thesubstrate into the processing unit and the transfer container placed onthe first load port; a second substrate transfer mechanism provided atthe other side of the inspection module in the left-right direction, andconfigured to transfer the substrate into the inspection module and thetransfer container placed on the second load port; and a transit unitconfigured to transit the substrate between the first substrate transfermechanism and the second substrate transfer mechanism.

A substrate processing method includes placing a transfer containeraccommodating a substrate therein on each of a first load port and asecond load port respectively provided at one side and the other side ina left-right direction; performing a processing on the substrate by aprocessing unit; inspecting, before or after the processing by theprocessing unit is performed, the substrate by an inspection moduleprovided between the first load port and the second load port in theleft-right direction; transferring the substrate into the processingunit and the transfer container placed on the first load port by a firstsubstrate transfer mechanism provided at one side of the inspectionmodule in the left-right direction; transferring the substrate into theinspection module and the transfer container placed on the second loadport by a second substrate transfer mechanism provided at the other sideof the inspection module in the left-right direction; and transferringthe substrate between the first substrate transfer mechanism and thesecond substrate transfer mechanism via a transit unit.

A computer-readable recording medium having stored thereoncomputer-executable instructions that, in response to execution, cause asubstrate processing apparatus to perform a substrate processing methodaccording to the present exemplary embodiment.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, there is provided aninspection module between a first load port and a second load portprovided in a left-right direction. Further, a first substrate transfermechanism is provided at one side of the inspection module in theleft-right direction, and is configured to transfer the substrate intothe processing unit and the transfer container placed on the first loadport. Furthermore, a second substrate transfer mechanism is provided atthe other side of the inspection module in the left-right direction, andis configured to transfer the substrate into the inspection module andthe transfer container placed on the second load port. The substrate istransferred between the substrate transfer mechanisms via the transitunit. According to this configuration, it is possible to suppress theload increase of a single substrate transfer device. Therefore, thethroughput reduction of the apparatus can be suppressed.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be inany way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments,and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and featureswill become apparent by reference to the drawings and the followingdetailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the detailed description that follows, embodiments are described asillustrations only since various changes and modifications will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from the following detaileddescription. The use of the same reference numbers in different figuresindicates similar or identical items.

FIG. 1 is a transversal plan view of a coating and developing apparatusaccording to an exemplary embodiment of a substrate processing apparatusin the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal side view of the coating and developingapparatus;

FIG. 3 is a front view of a carrier block belonging to the coating anddeveloping apparatus;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the carrier block;

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of a door of a load port providedin the carrier block;

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal side view of an inspection module provided inthe carrier block;

FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view of the inspection module;

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal front view of the carrier block;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a wafer transfer path inthe carrier block;

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the wafer transfer pathin the carrier block;

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the wafer transfer pathin the carrier block;

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the wafer transfer pathin the carrier block;

FIG. 13 is a front view illustrating a configuration of another carrierblock;

FIG. 14 is a front view illustrating a configuration of yet anothercarrier block;

FIG. 15 is a front view illustrating a configuration of still yetanother carrier block;

FIG. 16 is a transversal plan view illustrating the configuration of thestill yet another carrier block; and

FIG. 17 is a front view illustrating a configuration of still yetanother carrier block.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part of the description. In thedrawings, similar symbols typically identify similar components, unlesscontext dictates otherwise. Furthermore, unless otherwise noted, thedescription of each successive drawing may reference features from oneor more of the previous drawings to provide clearer context and a moresubstantive explanation of the current exemplary embodiment. Still, theexemplary embodiments described in the detailed description, drawings,and claims are not meant to be limiting. Other embodiments may beutilized, and other changes may be made, without departing from thespirit or scope of the subject matter presented herein. It will bereadily understood that the aspects of the present disclosure, asgenerally described herein and illustrated in the drawings, may bearranged, substituted, combined, separated, and designed in a widevariety of different configurations, all of which are explicitlycontemplated herein.

First Exemplary Embodiment

A coating and developing apparatus 1 according to a first exemplaryembodiment of a substrate processing apparatus in the present disclosurewill be explained with reference to a transversal plan view of FIG. 1and a longitudinal side view of FIG. 2 . The coating and developingapparatus 1 includes a carrier block D1, a processing block D2 and aninterface block D3 which are connected horizontally in a straight-lineshape in this sequence. An exposure apparatus D4 is connected with theinterface block D3.

The blocks D1 to D3 will be briefly explained. A carrier C accommodatingtherein wafers W as circular substrates having a diameter of, e.g., 300mm is transferred into the carrier block D1, and the carrier block D1transfers the wafers W in the carrier C to the inside of the apparatus.For example, the carrier C is a transfer container of a wafer W called aFOUP (Front Opening Unified Pod), and is composed of a container mainbody and a lid provided at a front surface of the container main body.Further, the processing block D2 is configured to perform formation ofan antireflection film, formation of a resist film and formation of aresist pattern through development of the resist film by supplyingvarious kinds of chemical liquids onto the wafer W. The exposureapparatus D4 is configured to expose the wafer W to light such that theresist pattern is formed through the development, and the interfaceblock D3 is configured to deliver the wafer W between the processingblock D2 and the exposure apparatus D4.

The wafer W is processed by being transferred in the order of thecarrier C→the carrier block D1→the processing block D2→the interfaceblock D3→the exposure apparatus D4→the interface block D3→the processingblock D2→the carrier block D1→the carrier C. During this transfer,before the wafer W is carried into the processing block D2 or after thewafer W is carried out of the processing block D2, the wafer W istransferred into an inspection module 4 provided in the carrier blockD1, and then, a surface state of the wafer W is inspected therein. Toelaborate, presence or absence of a foreign substance or presence orabsence of abnormality of a pattern size is inspected. In the following,an inspection performed before the wafer W is carried into theprocessing block D2 will be referred to as “pre-processing inspection,”and an inspection performed after the wafer W is carried out from theprocessing block D2 will be referred to as “post-processing inspection.”

Now, the carrier block D1 will be described with reference to a frontview of FIG. 3 and a perspective view of FIG. 4 . In FIG. 4 , toillustrate individual components at the front side of the carrier blockD1, the carrier block D1 is depicted to be divided in two vertically.Further, in the following description, the carrier block D1 side will bedefined as a front side, and the interface block D3 side will be definedas a rear side. Further, unless otherwise noted, the left side and theright side in the following description refer to a left side and a rightside when the rear side is seen from the front side.

The carrier block D1 has a rectangular housing 11, and individualsidewalls of the housing 11 are vertically formed. Three portions of afront wall 12, which is one of the sidewalls, are protruded forwardswhile being spaced apart from each other in the vertical direction,forming shelves in three levels. Among these three levels of shelves,the bottommost shelf is referred to as a supporting table 13; the middleshelf, a supporting table 14; and the topmost shelf, a supporting table15. Further, a bottom end portion of the supporting table 13 isadditionally protruded forwards, forming a supporting table 16. Thesesupporting tables 13 to 16 are horizontally formed to support thecarriers C thereon.

Between the supporting table 13 and the supporting table 14 on the frontwall 12 of the housing 11, a transfer opening 21 for the wafer W, atransfer opening 21 for the wafer W, openings 22 each for providing aninspection module, and a transfer opening 21 for the wafer W are formedside by side in this order from the left side toward the right sidewhile being spaced apart from each other. Each of the openings 22 has aflat rectangular shape, and these two openings are arranged verticallywhile being spaced apart from each other. On the supporting table 13, amoving stage 23 for placing the carrier C thereon is provided in frontof each of the transfer openings 21. Each moving stage 23 is configuredto be moved back and forth between a front position where a transfer ofthe carrier C is performed with respect to the corresponding movingstage 23 and a rear position where a transfer of the wafer W isperformed between the carrier C and the inside of the housing 11 throughthe transfer opening 21.

Each transfer opening 21 is provided with an elevating door 24. Anon-illustrated holding mechanism configured to hold the lid of thecarrier C is provided at a front surface of the elevating door 24 andconfigured to deliver the lid with respect to the container main bodyforming the carrier C on the moving stage 23 located at the rearposition. Further, the elevating door 24 is moved between a closingposition where the transfer opening 21 is closed and an opening positionwhich is retreated and moved down from the closing position and wherethe transfer opening 21 is opened. Accordingly, the elevating door 24performs the opening/closing of the transfer opening 21 and theopening/closing of the lid of the carrier C. Further, the aforementionedopening position is indicated by dashed dotted lines in FIG. 2 and FIG.3 . Accordingly, if a mechanism, which is equipped with the stage onwhich the transfer container accommodating the wafers W therein isplaced, the transfer opening through which the wafer W is carried intoand out of the transfer container placed on the stage and the doorconfigured to open/close the lid of the transfer container andopen/close the transfer opening, is defined as a load port, three loadports are provided on the supporting table 13. In the drawings, todistinguish these three load ports, the load ports are assignedreference numerals 2A, 2B and 2C in order from the left side to theright side.

Between the supporting table 14 and the supporting table 15 on the frontwall 12, one transfer opening 21 for the wafer W is opened verticallyabove the transfer opening 21 of the aforementioned load port 2C. On thesupporting table 14, the moving stage 23 as described above is providedin front of the transfer opening 21 provided between the supportingtables 14 and 15, and this transfer opening 21 is provided with arotating door 25. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the rotating door 25,and a reference numeral 26 in FIG. 5 denotes an arm having one endconnected to a periphery portion of the rotating door 25. Further, inFIG. 5 , a reference numeral 27 is a rotating mechanism to which theother end of the arm 26 is connected. When viewed from theforward-backward direction, the rotating mechanism 27 is configured torotate the rotating door 25 around a horizontal rotation axis R1 whichis located under the transfer opening 21 and coincides with theforward-backward direction. In FIG. 5 , a reference numeral 28 is aforward-backward moving mechanism configured to move the rotating door25 back and forth along with the rotating mechanism 27 and the arm 26.

The rotating door 25 is moved by the forward-backward moving mechanism28 and the rotating mechanism 27 between a closing position where thetransfer opening 21 is closed and an opening position which is retreatedand rotated from the closing position by 90° and where the transferopening 21 is opened. The opening position is indicated by dashed dottedlines in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 . As depicted in FIG. 3 , when viewed fromthe forward-backward direction, the rotating door 25 located at theopening position is deviated from the transfer opening 21 in thetransversal direction and is positioned above the openings 22. Further,the same as in the case of the elevating door 24, a non-illustratedholding mechanism configured to hold the lid of the carrier C isprovided at a front face of the rotating door 25, and this lid isdelivered to and from the container main body placed on the moving stage23 at the rear position of the supporting table 14. That is, therotating door 25 performs the opening/closing of the transfer opening 21and the opening/closing of the lid of the carrier C. Accordingly, therotating door 25, the transfer opening 21 opened/closed by the rotatingdoor 25 and the moving stage 23 on the supporting table 14 are alsoconfigured to constitute a load port, which is assigned a referencenumeral 2D in the drawings.

Further, on the supporting table 14, three standby stages 29respectively configured to place the carrier C thereon are provided atthe left side of the load port 2D while being arranged in a row with adistance therebetween in the left-right direction. When viewed from theforward-backward direction, the three standby stages 29 on thesupporting table 14 are provided vertically above the openings 22,vertically above the moving stage 23 of the load port 2A and verticallyabove the moving stage 23 of the load port 2B, respectively. Now, thesupporting tables 15 and 16 will be described. On the supporting table15, a carry-in stage 31, a standby stage 29, a standby stage 29 and acarry-out stage 32 respectively configured to place the carrier Cthereon are arranged in a row in this sequence from the left to theright while being spaced apart from each other. When viewed from theforward-backward direction, the carry-in stage 31 and the individualstandby stages 29 on the supporting table 15 are located verticallyabove the respective standby stages 29 of the supporting table 14, andthe carry-out stage 32 is located vertically above the moving stage 23on the supporting table 14. Provided at the right side of the supportingtable 16 with respect to a center thereof in the left-right directionare two standby stages 29. These two standby stages 29 are arranged in arow in the left-right direction. Here, however, the standby stages 29may be provided at the left side of the supporting table 16 with respectto the center thereof.

The carrier C is transferred between the carry-in stage 31, thecarry-out stage 32 and the standby stages 29 by a carrier transfermechanism 3 to be described later. The carry-in stage 31 is a stage onwhich a non-illustrated external transfer mechanism places the carrier Cto load the corresponding carrier C into the carrier block D1. Theexternal transfer mechanism receives the carrier C placed on thecarry-out stage 32 and carries the corresponding carrier C out of thecarrier block D1. Further, each standby stage 29 is a stage on which thecarrier C accommodating therein the wafers W before being carried intothe apparatus and an empty carrier C from which the wafers W are carriedinto the apparatus stand by. Accordingly, the carrier C is transferredin the order of the carry-in stage 31→the standby stage 29→the movingstage 23 of one of the load ports 2A to 2D. Then, the wafers W of thecarrier C are taken out on the corresponding moving stage 23.Subsequently, the carrier C is transferred in the order of the standbystage 29→the moving stage 23 of one of the load ports 2A to 2D. Then,the carrier C receives the wafers W on the moving stage 23. Thereafter,the carrier C is transferred in the order of the standby stage 29→thecarry-out stage 32.

The standby stage 29 will be further explained. Since the load port 2Dis provided at the right end portion of the supporting table 14 asstated above, there is a limit in the number of the standby stages 29which can be provided on the supporting table 14. Besides on thesupporting tables 14 and 15, however, the standby stages 29 are alsoprovided on the supporting table 16 under the load ports 2A to 2D. Thus,a sufficient number of carriers C can be carried into the carrier blockD1, and, therefore, a high throughput can be achieved.

Now, the carrier transfer mechanism 3 will be described. The carriertransfer mechanism 3 is provided in front of the front wall 12 of thecarrier block D1. The carrier transfer mechanism 3 is equipped with amulti-joint arm 33 configured to hold a handle portion provided at a topportion of the carrier C; an elevating mechanism 34 configured to movethe multi-joint arm 33 up and down; and a left-right moving mechanism 35configured to move the elevating mechanism 34 in the left-rightdirection. The carrier transfer mechanism 3 having this configurationtransfers the carrier C through the aforementioned path.

The carrier block D1 is equipped with two inspection modules 4 eachconfigured to inspect the wafer W. These inspection modules 4 will beexplained with reference to a longitudinal side view shown in FIG. 6 .Each inspection module 4 includes a housing 41 having, for example, aflat rectangular shape elongated in the forward-backward direction, andthe housing 41 is provided in the carrier block D1 by being fitted intothe housing 11 through the opening 22 from the outside of the housing11. Since the openings 22 are vertically arranged, the inspectionmodules 4 are also vertically arranged. Transfer openings 42 for thewafer W are respectively formed at left and right sidewalls of thehousing 41 at the rear side thereof and are opened to the housing 11.The front side of the housing 41 is protruded from the front wall 12 ofthe housing 11.

Provided within the housing 41 is a placing unit 43 configured to holdthe wafer W horizontally by attracting a central portion of a rearsurface of the wafer W. Within the housing 41, the placing unit 43 ismovable between a standby position at the rear side and an imagingcompletion position at the front side. In FIG. 6 , the standby positionis indicated by a solid line, and the imaging completion position ismarked by a dashed dotted line. Further, FIG. 1 illustrates the placingunit 43 located at the standby position. The standby position is aposition facing the aforementioned transfer openings 42. As a fork 56 ofa transfer mechanism 5A (5B) to be described later enters the housing 41through the transfer opening 42 and then is moved up and down, the waferW is transferred between the corresponding transfer mechanism 5A (5B)and the placing unit 43. Further, instead of the configuration in whichthe fork 56 is moved up and down, pins capable of being moved up anddown may be provided within the housing 41, and the wafer W may betransferred between the corresponding transfer mechanism 5A (5B) and theplacing unit 43 at the standby position by the pins. In the drawing, areference numeral 44 denotes a moving mechanism configured to move theplacing unit 43 back and forth.

Within the housing 41, a half mirror 45 horizontally elongated andextended in the left-right direction is provided above a moving path ofthe wafer W by the placing unit 43. This half mirror 45 is obliquelyarranged when viewed from the side with respect to a moving direction ofthe wafer W. Further, a lighting device 46 configured to irradiate lightdownwards through the half mirror 45 is provided above the half mirror45. A camera 47 is provided at an inner side of the half mirror 45. Thelight irradiated from the lighting device 46 travels through the halfmirror 45 and reaches an irradiation region under the half mirror 45.Then, reflection light from an object in this irradiation region isreflected by the half mirror 45 and reaches the camera 47. That is, thecamera 47 is capable of imaging the object located in an imaging regionunder the half mirror 45.

While the placing unit 43 having received at the standby position thewafer W from the transfer mechanism 5A (5B) is being moved toward theimaging completion position, the camera 47 images the wafer Wintermittently, so that the entire surface of the wafer W is imaged, sothat image data are obtained. The image data are sent from the camera 47to a control unit 10 to be described later, and inspection of thesurface of the wafer W is performed by the control unit 10 based on theimage data. Further, the placing unit 43 once moved to the imagingcompletion position is returned back to the standby position in order totransfer the wafer W back to the transfer mechanism 5A (5B).

The inspection module 4 is configured to be provided detachably from thecarrier block D1. By way of example, as shown in FIG. 7 , guide rails 48extended along an opening direction of the opening 22 toward the insideof the housing 11 are provided as engaging portions at peripheryportions of the opening 22 of the carrier block D1. Meanwhile, thehousing 41 of the inspection module 4 is provided with grooves 49 whichare extended from the rear end of the housing 41 toward the front sidethereof to be engaged with the engaging portions. As stated above, whenthe inspection module 4 is mounted to the carrier block D1 as the rearportion of the housing 41 of the inspection module 4 is fitted into thehousing 11 of the carrier block D1, the grooves 49 and the guide rails48 are engaged with each other, as illustrated in the top part of FIG. 7.

By way of example, as an operator pulls forward the front portion of theinspection module 4 protruded from the opening 22, the rear portion ofthe housing 41 is taken out of the housing 11 along the guide rails 48,and the grooves 49 are disengaged from the guide rails 48 as shown inthe lower part of FIG. 7 , so that the inspection module 4 is separatedfrom the carrier block D1. To mount the inspection module 4 to thehousing 11, the reverse operations as performed to separate them areperformed. In this way, by configuring the inspection module 4 to beattachable to/detachable from the carrier block D1, maintenance of theinspection module 4 such as replacement of the lighting device 46 can beeasily carried out. Further, illustration of the guide rails 48 and thegrooves 49 are omitted except for in FIG. 7 .

Now, an internal configuration of the housing 11 will be explained withreference to a longitudinal front view of the carrier block D1 shown inFIG. 8 . Within the housing 11, a buffer module 51 is provided. Thisbuffer module 51 is configured to accommodate therein a plurality ofwafers W which are arranged in the vertical direction with a gaptherebetween. By way of example, the buffer module 51 has aconfiguration in which multiple sets of three pins configured to supportthe rear surface of the wafer W are arranged in the vertical direction.However, the buffer module 51 is not limited to having such aconfiguration equipped with the pins but may be configured to support aperipheral portion of the wafer W in a bowl shape to drop the wafer Wonto a preset position by guiding the peripheral portion of the wafer W.This buffer module 51 is positioned above the inspection module 4 tooverlap with the standby position of the placing unit 43 of theinspection module 4 when viewed from the top. The buffer module 51constitutes a standby unit in which the wafers W to be processed nextare placed to stand by until the inspection module 4 is emptied (thatis, a previously inspected wafer W is carried out from the inspectionmodule 4) and a next wafer W can be carried into the inspection module4.

The transfer mechanism 5A is provided at the left side of the buffermodule 51 and the inspection module 4, and the transfer mechanism 5B isprovided at the right side thereof. The transfer mechanism 5A isequipped with a frame 52 standing upright, a left-right moving mechanism53 configured to move the frame 52 in the left-right direction, anelevation table 54 provided at the frame 52 to be movable vertically, abase 55 configured to be pivotable around the vertical axis on theelevation table 54 and the fork 56 configured to be movable back andforth on the base 55 and support the rear surface of the wafer W.Further, a region in which the aforementioned frame 52 is moved by theleft-right moving mechanism 53 is limited to the region at the left sideof the buffer module 51 and the inspection modules 4.

Through cooperation of the aforementioned individual componentsconstituting the transfer mechanism 5A, the transfer mechanism 5A as afirst substrate transfer mechanism is capable of transferring the waferW between the carrier C provided on the load ports 2A and 2B as a firstload port, the placing unit 43 at the standby position within theinspection module 4, the buffer module 51 and a transit module of atower T1 to be described later. Further, a reference numeral 57 in FIG.1 denotes a transfer path for the wafer W provided on the rear side ofthe housing 11 to transfer the wafer W to the tower T1. The transfermechanism 5B as a second substrate transfer mechanism has the sameconfiguration as the transfer mechanism 5A except that the transfermechanism 5B is not equipped with the left-right moving mechanism 53.Through cooperation of individual components constituting the transfermechanism 5B, the transfer mechanism 5B is capable of transferring thewafer W between the carrier C provided on the load ports 2C and 2D as asecond load port, the placing unit 43 at the standby position within theinspection module 4 and the buffer module 51. In these configurations,both the transfer mechanism 5A and the transfer mechanism 5B are capableof transferring the wafers W to the buffer module 51 and the placingunit 43 of the inspection module 4. Thus, the buffer module 51 and theplacing unit 43 are also used as transit units in which the wafer W isplaced to be transferred between the transfer mechanisms 5A and 5B.

Now, the processing block D2 will be explained with reference to FIG. 1and FIG. 2 . The processing block D2 includes first to six unit blocksE1 to E6 which are stacked on top of each other in sequence from thebottom, and configured to perform liquid processings on the wafer W. Theunit blocks E1 and E2 are same; the unit blocks E3 and E4 are same; andthe unit blocks E5 and E6 are same. Of the two same unit blocks, thewafer W is transferred into either one of them. Here, the unit block E3shown in FIG. 1 will be representatively explained. The unit block E3includes a transfer region 61 for the wafer W which is extended in theforward-backward direction. At the right side of the transfer region 61,two resist film forming modules 62 each configured to form a resist filmby coating a resist as a chemical liquid onto the surface of the wafer Ware arranged in the forward-backward direction. At the left side of thetransfer region 61, a multiple number of heating modules 63 eachconfigured to heat the wafer W is arranged in the forward-backwarddirection along the transfer region 61. Further, a transfer mechanism F3configured to transfer the wafer W within the unit block E3 is providedin the transfer region 61.

Differences of the unit blocks E1, E2, E5 and E6 from the unit blocks E3and E4 will be explained. Each of the unit blocks E1 and E2 is equippedwith, instead of the resist film forming module 62, an antireflectionfilm forming module. To form the antireflection film on the wafer W, theantireflection film forming module is configured to form anantireflection film by coating, instead of the resist, a chemical liquidfor forming an antireflection film. Each of the unit blocks E5 and E6 isequipped with, instead of the resist film forming module 62, adeveloping module. The developing module is configured to supply adeveloping liquid as a chemical liquid onto the wafer W. As describedabove, for the modules configured to supply the chemical liquids, theunit blocks E1 to E6 have the same configuration except that they supplythe different kinds of chemical liquids. In FIG. 2 , transfer mechanismsof the unit blocks E1, E2 and E4 to E6 corresponding to the transfermechanism F3 are assigned reference numerals F1, F2 and F4 to F6,respectively.

Within the processing block D2, a tower T1 vertically extended along theunit blocks E1 to E6 and composed of a multiple number of transitmodules stacked on top of each other; and a transfer mechanism 64configured to transfer the wafer W between the individual modules of thetower T1 are provided at the side of the carrier block D1. Within thetower T1, the transit modules TRS1 to TRS6 in which the wafers W areplaced are provided at the same heights as the unit blocks E1 to E6,respectively. Further, the tower T1 is also equipped with transitmodules in which the wafers W are placed to be transferred to/from thetransfer mechanism 5A as stated above, and these transit modules areassigned reference numerals TRS0 and TRS10.

The interface block D3 includes towers T2, T3 and T4 vertically extendedalong the unit blocks E1 to E6, and is equipped with a transfermechanism 65 configured to transfer the wafer W with respect to thetower T2 and the tower T3; a transfer mechanism 66 configured totransfer the wafer W with respect to the tower T2 and the tower T4; anda transfer mechanism 67 configured to transfer the wafer W between thetower T3 and the exposure apparatus D4. The tower T2 includes transitmodules TRS which are stacked on top of each other and configured totransfer the wafers W to the unit blocks. Further, though modules areprovided in the towers T3 and T4 as well, elaboration thereof will beomitted herein.

As depicted in FIG. 1 , the coating and developing apparatus 1 isequipped with the control unit 10 which is implemented by a computer.The control unit 10 has a non-illustrated program storage unit storingprograms therein. The programs include commands prepared to allow thetransfer of the wafers W by the respective transfer mechanisms, thetransfer of the carriers C by the carrier transfer mechanism 3 andprocessings on the wafers W in the individual modules to be controlledin response to control signals sent from the control unit 10 to theindividual components of the coating and developing apparatus 1, so thatthe formation and the inspection of the resist pattern on each wafer Ware carried out. The programs are stored in the program storage unit bybeing stored in a recording medium such as, but not limited to, a harddisk, a compact disk, a DVD, or a memory card.

Now, referring to FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 , a transfer path for the wafer Win the carrier block D1 when the formation of the resist pattern and thepre-processing inspection are performed will be discussed. In FIG. 9 andFIG. 10 and, also in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 to be described later, for thepurpose of illustration, the load ports 2C and 2D are shown to bearranged horizontally, and the inspection module 4 and the buffer module51 are shown to be deviated from each other.

In case of performing the pre-processing inspection, the load ports 2Cand 2D are used as carry-in load ports for carrying the wafer W into theapparatus, and the load ports 2A and 2B are used as carry-out load portsfor carrying the wafer W out of the apparatus, for example. First, thewafer W is transferred into the buffer module 51 by the transfermechanism 5B from the carriers C respectively placed on the load ports2C and 2D (as indicated by an arrow A1 in FIG. 9 ).

Then, if the inspection module 4 is ready to accommodate the wafer Wtherein, the wafer W is carried into the inspection module 4 by thetransfer mechanism 5B (as indicated by an arrow A2 in FIG. 9 ), and theimage data of the surface of the wafer W are acquired, and theinspection is performed. Thereafter, the wafer W is carried out of theinspection module 4 by the transfer mechanism 5A and transferred intothe transit module TRS0 of the tower T1 (as indicated by an arrow A3 inFIG. 9 ). The wafer W transferred into the transit module TRS0 is thensent into the processing block D2, the interface block D3 and theexposure apparatus D4 as described above. Then, after the resist patternis formed, the wafer W is transferred into the transit module TRS10 ofthe tower T1, and then transferred into the carrier C on the load port2A or 2B by the transfer mechanism 5A (as indicated by an arrow A4 inFIG. 10 ).

Now, referring to FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 , a transfer path for the wafer Win the carrier block D1 when the formation of the resist pattern and thepost-processing inspection are performed will be described. In case ofperforming the post-processing inspection, the load ports 2A and 2B areused as carry-in load ports, and the load ports 2C and 2D are used ascarry-out load ports, for example. First, the wafer W is transferredinto the transit module TRS0 of the tower T1 by the transfer mechanism5A from the carrier C placed on the load ports 2A and 2B (as indicatedby an arrow B1 in FIG. 11 ). As stated above, after the resist patternis formed as the corresponding wafer W is transferred into theprocessing block D2, the interface block D3 and the exposure apparatusD4, the wafer W is transferred into the transit module TRS10 of thetower T1.

Subsequently, the wafer W is transferred into the buffer module 51 fromthe transit module TRS10 by the transfer mechanism 5A (as indicated byan arrow B2 in FIG. 12 ). Then, if the inspection module 4 is ready toaccommodate the wafer W therein, the wafer W is carried into theinspection module 4 by the transfer mechanism 5B (as indicated by anarrow B3 in FIG. 12 ), and the image data of the surface of the wafer Ware acquired and the inspection is performed. Thereafter, the wafer W iscarried out of the inspection module 4 by the transfer mechanism 5B andtransferred into the carrier C on the load port 2C or 2D (as indicate byan arrow B4 in FIG. 12 )

Now, in each of the above-described transfers of the wafer W, thetransfer path for the wafer W from the transit module TRS0 to thetransit module TRS10 will be explained. The wafer W sent into thetransit module TRS0 is then transferred into either one of the unitblocks E1 and E2 by the transfer mechanism 64. For example, in case ofdelivering the wafer W to the unit block E1, the wafer W is deliveredto, among the transit modules TRS of the tower T1, the transit moduleTRS1 corresponding to the unit block E1 (that is, the transit module towhich the wafer W can be transferred by the transfer mechanism F1).Further, in case of delivering the wafer W to the unit block E2, thewafer W is delivered to, among the transit modules TRS of the tower T1,the transit module TRS2 corresponding to the unit block E2.

Thereafter, the wafer W is transferred by the transfer mechanism F1 (F2)in the order of the transit module TRS1 (TRS2)→the antireflection filmforming module→the heating module 63→the transit module TRS1 (TRS2), andis then sent by the transfer mechanism 64 into either the transit moduleTRS3 corresponding to the unit block E3 or the transit module TRS4corresponding to the unit block E4. The wafer W sent to either one ofthe transit modules TRS3 and TRS4 is then transferred by the transfermechanism F3(F4) in the order of the transit module TRS3 (TRS4)→theresist film forming module 62→the heating module 63→a transit moduleTRS31 (TRS41) of the tower T2. Thereafter, this wafer W is transferredinto the exposure apparatus D4 by the transfer mechanisms 65 and 67, andthe resist film formed on the surface of the wafer W is exposedaccording to a preset pattern.

The wafer W obtained after being exposed is transferred between thetowers T2 and T4 by the transfer mechanisms 66 and 67, and sent into atransit module TRS51 (TRS61) of the tower T2 corresponding to the unitblock E5 (E6). Then, the wafer W is transferred by the transfermechanism F5 (F6) in the order of the heating module 63→the developingmodule. After the resist pattern is formed as the resist film isdissolved according to the pattern exposed in the exposure apparatus D4,the wafer W is then transferred to the transit module TRS10.

According to the above-described coating and developing apparatus 1, theinspection modules 4 are located between the load ports 2A and 2Bprovided at the left side of the carrier block D1 and the load ports 2Cand 2D provided at the right side of the carrier block D1. The transfermechanism 5A provided at the left side of the inspection modules 4performs the transfer of the wafer W with respect to the carrier Cplaced on the load ports 2A and 2B and the processing block D2. Further,the transfer mechanism 5B provided at the right side of the inspectionmodule 4 performs the transfer of the wafer W with respect to thecarrier C placed on the load ports 2C and 2D. The wafer W is transferredbetween the transfer mechanisms 5A and 5B through the inspection modules4 or the buffer module 51. According to this configuration, since theinspection modules 4 can be disposed in the vicinity of the load ports2A to 2D, the wafer W immediately after being carried into the coatingand developing apparatus 1 and the wafer W immediately before beingcarried out from the coating and developing apparatus 1 can be bothinspected. Therefore, in case that an abnormality of the wafer W occursbefore the wafer W is carried into the coating and developing apparatus1, it can be accurately determined that the abnormality has occurred atthe outside of the coating and developing apparatus 1. If theabnormality has occurred during the processings and the transfers withinthe coating and developing apparatus 1, on the other hand, thecorresponding abnormality can be detected securely.

According to the configuration of the carrier bock D1, in addition tothe advantage that the above-described inspection can be carried out,the number of the load ports accessed by each of the transfer mechanisms5A and 5B is reduced. Further, the transfer of the wafer W with respectto the processing block D2 is performed by the transfer mechanism 5A,whereas the transfer of the wafer W into the inspection module 4 isperformed by the transfer mechanism 5B which does not perform thetransfer of the wafer W with respect to the processing block D2. Thatis, the functions of the transfer mechanisms 5A and 5B are separated, sothat the number of times each of the transfer mechanisms 5A and 5Bperforms the transfer of the wafer W in order to transfer the wafer Wbetween the carrier C and the processing block D2 and in order toperform the inspection during this transfer can be reduced. That is,since a load increase of each of the transfer mechanisms 5A and 5B issuppressed, the throughput of the apparatus can be improved.

Regarding the inspection module 4 provided between the load portsarranged in the left-right direction, the inspection module 4 isprovided at the same height as the transfer openings 21 of the loadports 2A to 2C. That is, the inspection module 4 and the load ports 2Ato 2C are arranged in a row from side to side. With this configuration,a distance between the carriers C on the load ports 2A to 2C and theinspection module 4 can be set to be relatively short, so that the waferW can be rapidly transferred between the carrier C on the load ports 2Ato 2C and the inspection module 4. Therefore, the throughput of theapparatus can be further improved. Besides, even in case that thetransfer is performed between the carrier C and the inspection module 4through the buffer module 51 as described above, if the inspectionmodule 4 and the load ports 2A to 2C are arranged in a row, an increaseof a moving distance of the transfer mechanisms 5A and 5B can besuppressed by placing the buffer module 51 near the inspection module 4.Therefore, the transfer of the wafer W can be performed rapidly.

Furthermore, by providing the load port 2D in addition to the load ports2A to 2C as described above, deterioration of the throughput that mightbe caused by the lack of the load ports can be avoided. By disposingthis load port 2D above the load port 2C, an increase of a footprint ofthe carrier block D1, which may be caused by providing the inspectionmodule 4 at the aforementioned position and by providing the four loadports, can be suppressed. Moreover, with regard to the load ports 2A to2C, since the transfer openings 21 thereof are respectivelyopened/closed by the elevating doors 24, left and right spaces requiredto open/close the transfer openings 21 are reduced, so that an increaseof the distance between the inspection module 4 and the load ports canbe suppressed. Thus, an increase of a width of the carrier block D1 inthe left-right direction can be suppressed. Meanwhile, as the transferopening 21 of the load port 2D is opened/closed by the rotating door 25,upper and lower spaces required to open/close the transfer opening 21can be reduced, so that a distance between the load ports 2C and 2D canbe shortened. That is, even if the load ports 2C and 2D are verticallyarranged, the length by which the transfer mechanism 5B is moved up anddown to access the load ports 2C and 2D is set to be short, so that thethroughput can be increased more securely.

Furthermore, though the two inspection modules 4 are provided tosuppress the reduction of the throughput, only one inspection module 4may be provided. Furthermore, more than two inspection modules 4 may beprovided. In such a case, to allow each of the transfer mechanisms 5Aand 5B to transfer the wafer W while suppressing the increase of thefootprint of the apparatus, it is desirable to stack the inspectionmodules 4 on top of each other.

Further, the inspection module 4 is not limited to being provided at thesame height as the transfer openings 21 of the load ports 2A to 2C. Byway of example, the buffer module 51 may be provided at the same heightas the transfer openings 21 of the load ports 2A to 2C, and theinspection module 4 may be provided at a position higher than the buffermodule 51. In such a case, however, the height of the load port 2D withrespect to the load port 2C may be increased to avoid interferencebetween the rotating door 25 of the load port 2D and the inspectionmodule 4. Accordingly, the length by which the transfer mechanism 5B ismoved up and down to access the load ports 2C and 2D may be increased.Thus, from the point of view of carrying out the rapid transfer of thewafer between the carrier C of the load ports 2A to 2C and theinspection module 4, it may be desirable to provide the inspectionmodule 4 at the same height as the transfer openings 21 of the loadports 2A to 2C.

Further, when viewed from the top, since the buffer module 51 isprovided to overlap with the placing unit 43 at the standby position ofthe inspection module 4, the base 55 at which the fork 56 is provided inthe transfer mechanism 5A (5B) can transfer the wafer W standing by inthe buffer module 51 into the inspection module 4 only through theelevating motions without being moved in the left-right direction.Accordingly, a time taken to transfer the wafer W between the buffermodule 51 and the inspection module 4 can be shortened, so that thethroughput can be increased more securely. Furthermore, the buffermodule 51 may not be provided in the carrier block D1, and the transferof the wafer W between the transfer mechanisms 5A and 5B may beperformed only through the inspection module 4. In this configuration,when carrying the wafer W into the inspection module 4, the transfermechanism 5A or 5B may stand by while holding the wafer W thereon untilthe inspection module 4 is emptied. Since, however, the transfermechanisms 5A and 5B cannot perform a transfer of another wafer W whilethey are holding the wafer W, it may be effective to provide the buffermodule 51 to suppress the deterioration of the throughput.

Furthermore, in the above-described carrier block D1, the placing unit43 of the inspection module 4 and the buffer module 51 are configured asthe transit units in which the wafer W is placed to be transferredbetween the transfer mechanisms 5A and 5B. However, a transit unit maybe provided separately from the inspection module 4 and the buffermodule 51. As the inspection module 4 also serves as the transit unit,however, the transfer mechanism 5A can directly take the wafer W afterbeing subjected to the inspection from the inspection module 4 as shownin FIG. 9 and, then, transfer the wafer W to the tower T1. Further, asthe buffer module 51 also serves as the transit unit, the wafer W of thetower T1 can be directly transferred into the buffer module 51 to standby therein as depicted in FIG. 12 . That is, as the inspection module 4and the buffer module 51 are used as the transit units, the load of thetransfer mechanisms 5A and 5B can be suppressed, and the throughput canbe improved.

Further, the present exemplary embodiment is not limited to theconfiguration in which either one of the pre-processing inspection andthe post-processing inspection is performed until the wafer W taken fromthe carrier C is returned back into the carrier C. An example of atransfer during which the pre-processing inspection and thepost-processing inspection are performed will be explained. First, asshown by arrows A1 to A3 of FIG. 9 , by transferring the wafer W carriedout of the load ports 2C and 2D in the order of the buffer module 51→theinspection module 4→the transit module TRS0, the pre-processinginspection is performed on the corresponding wafer W, and the wafer W istransferred into the processing block D2. Further, as shown by arrows B2to B3 of FIG. 12 , by transferring the wafer W sent into the transitmodule TRS10 after the resist pattern is formed thereon in the order ofthe buffer module 51→the inspection module 4, the post-processinginspection is performed on the wafer W, and the wafer W is transferredinto the carrier C of the load ports 2A and 2B. By performing both thepre-processing inspection and the post-processing inspection asdescribed above, it can be more securely specified, when the abnormalityin the wafer W is detected, whether this abnormality is caused by thecoating and developing apparatus 1 or caused by the outside of thecoating and developing apparatus 1.

Another example of the transfer during which the pre-processinginspection is performed will be explained. As indicated by arrows A1 toA3 of FIG. 9 , the wafer W taken out of the carrier C of the load ports2C and 2D is transferred in the order of the buffer module 51→theinspection module 4→the transit module TRS0. The wafer W sent into thetransit module TRS10 after the resist pattern is formed thereon istransferred into the buffer module 51 by the transfer mechanism 5A, and,subsequently, the wafer W is transferred into the carrier C of the loadports 2C and 2D by the transfer mechanism 5B. That is, if this series oftransfer operations is referred to as “first carry-in/out transfer,” theload ports 2C and 2D serve as the carry-in load port and the carry-outload port in the first carry-in/out transfer.

Another example of the transfer during which the post-processinginspection is performed will be described. As described in FIG. 11 , thewafer W, which is transferred into the transit module TRS0 from thecarrier C of the load ports 2A and 2B and then transferred into thetransit module TRS10 after the resist film is formed thereon, istransferred in the order of the buffer module 51→the inspection module4, as indicated by arrows B2 and B3 of FIG. 12 . Then, this wafer W iscarried into the carrier C of the load ports 2A and 2B from theinspection module 4 by the transfer mechanism 5A. That is, if thisseries of transfer operations is referred to as “second carry-in/outtransfer,” the load ports 2A and 2B serve as the carry-in load port andthe carry-out load port in the second carry-in/out transfer.

By way of example, the control over the transfer of the wafer W may beperformed such that the transfer of the wafer W is usually carried outas described above with reference to FIG. 9 to FIG. 12 ; such that thefirst carry-in/out transfer is performed when both of the load ports 2Aand 2B are not available; and such that the second carry-in/out transferis performed when both of the load ports 2C and 2D are not available.Further, by way of example, the first carry-in/out transfer and thesecond carry-in/out transfer may be performed at the same time whilesetting one of the two inspection modules 4 as one dedicated to thefirst carry-in/out transfer and the other as one dedicated to the secondcarry-in/out transfer. That is, the exemplary embodiment is not merelylimited to the configuration in which one of the transfer mechanisms 5Aand 5B is configured to only receive the wafer W from the carrier C andthe other of the transfer mechanisms 5A and 5B is configured to onlytransfer the wafer W into the carrier C, as in the example shown in FIG.9 to FIG. 12 .

First Modification Example of First Exemplary Embodiment

Now, a carrier block D11 according to a first modification example ofthe first exemplary embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG.13 while focusing on a difference from the carrier block D1. In thiscarrier block D11, the load port 2A is provided at the same height asthe load port 2D. Further, a position of the load port 2A in theleft-right direction is the same as that of the load port 2B. Not tointerfere with the load port 2B, the load port 2A is equipped with therotating door 25 configured to open/close the transfer opening 21 of theload port 2A, the same as the load port 2D. Further, in this carrierblock D11, two inspection modules 4 are vertically arranged at the leftof the load port 2B, the same as at the right thereof. For theconvenience of explanation, the two inspection modules at the right ofthe load port 2B will be assigned reference numerals 4A, and the twoinspection modules at the left of the load port 2B will be assignedreference numerals 4B. Since the inspection modules 4B and the load port2A are located at the left of the inspection modules 4A, the transfermechanism 5A transfers the wafer W with respect to the inspectionmodules 4B and the load port 2A.

An example of a transfer in the carrier block D11 will be described. Byway of example, as stated in FIG. 9 , the wafer W transferred into thebuffer module 51 after being taken out of the carrier C on the loadports 2C and 2D is transferred into the inspection module 4A by thetransfer mechanism 5B or into the inspection module 4B by the transfermechanism 5A to be subjected to the pre-processing inspection. The waferW after being inspected is transferred into the transfer module TRS0 ofthe tower T1 by the transfer mechanism 5A. Further, as another transferexample, the wafer W transferred into the buffer module 51 from thetransit module TRS10 may be transferred into the inspection module 4A(4B) to perform the post-processing inspection on the wafer W, and,then, the wafer W may be returned back into the carrier C on a presetload port. According to this carrier block D11, since the number of theinspection modules 4 is larger than that in the first exemplaryembodiment, a standby time of the wafer W in the buffer module 51 can bereduced. Since, however, the load on the transfer mechanisms 5A and 5Bis increased as the transfer mechanisms 5A and 5B access the largernumber of inspection modules 4 as compared to in the carrier module D1,it may be more desirable to adopt the configuration of the carrier blockD1 to achieve the higher throughput.

Second Modification Example of the First Exemplary Embodiment

Now, a carrier block D12 according to a second modification example willbe explained with reference to FIG. 14 while focusing on a differencefrom the carrier block D1. In this carrier block D12, a load port 2E isprovided in addition to the load ports 2A to 2D. This load port 2E isprovided at the same height as the load port 2D. Further, a position ofthe load port 2E in the left-right direction is the same as that of theload port 2A. Not to interfere with the load port 2A, the load port 2Eis equipped with the rotating door 25, the same as the load port 2D.Here, however, not to interfere with the sidewall of the housing 11 ofthe carrier block D1, the rotating door 25 of this load port 2E isrotated clockwise from the closing position, to the contrary to therotating door 25 of the load port 2D. Since the load port 2E is locatedat the left of the inspection module 4, the transfer mechanism 5Atransfers the wafer W with respect to the carrier C placed at thecorresponding load port 2E.

In this carrier block D12, the transfer of the wafer W is performed asdescribed in FIG. 9 to FIG. 12 , for example. When the load ports 2A and2B are used as the carry-in load ports, the load port 2E, for example,is also used as the carry-in load port, whereas when the load ports 2Aand 2B are used as the carry-out load ports, the load port 2E, forexample, is also used as the carry-out load port.

According to the present disclosure, as described in the first exemplaryembodiment and the various modification examples thereof, the twotransfer mechanisms 5A and 5B are provided, and the inspection modules 4and the load ports may be provided in a region in which the transfer ofthe wafer W can be performed by either one of these transfer mechanisms.Accordingly, the degree of freedom in arranging these inspection modules4 and load ports 2 is high, and, thus, it is easy to design theapparatus depending on a required level of throughput, a time requiredfor the inspection in the inspection modules 4, and so forth.

Second Exemplary Embodiment

Now, a coating and developing apparatus according to a second exemplaryembodiment will be explained while focusing on a difference from thefirst exemplary embodiment. FIG. 15 and FIG. 16 are a front view and atransversal plan view of a carrier block D5 provided in the coating anddeveloping apparatus according to the second exemplary embodiment. Inthe carrier block D5, though load ports 2A to 2C and two inspectionmodules 4 are provided, the load ports 2A to 2C are located at the leftof each inspection module 4. Further, in the carrier block D5, thesupporting tables 15 to 17 are not provided, and an external transfermechanism configured to transfer the carrier C with respect to thecarrier block D5 transfers the carrier C onto the moving stage 23 of theload ports 2A to 2C. Further, the transfer is not performed between thestandby stage 29, the carry-in stage 31 and the carry-out stage 32 ofthe carrier C. Furthermore, between the transfer mechanisms 5A and 5B,only the transfer mechanism 5A is provided within the housing 11, andthe frame 52 of this transfer mechanism 5A is moved in the left-rightdirection to deliver the wafer W to the carrier C placed on the loadports 2A to 2C.

The transfer mechanism 5A takes out the wafer W from the carrier C onthe load ports 2A to 2C and transfers the taken wafer W to the transitmodule TRS0 of the tower T1, and transfers the wafer W, which is sentinto the transit module TRS10 of the tower T1 after the resist patternis formed thereon, into the carrier C of the load ports 2A to 2C. Whenthe pre-processing inspection is performed, the wafer W is transferredto and inspected in the inspection module 4 before being transferred tothe transit module TRS0. When the post-processing inspection isperformed, the wafer W is transferred to and inspected in the inspectionmodule 4 before being returned back into the carrier C.

FIG. 17 shows a modification example of the carrier block D5 andillustrates an example in which two inspection modules 4 are verticallyarranged with a gap therebetween in the region in which the transferopening 21 of the load port 2D is formed in the first exemplaryembodiment. In the carrier block D5 shown in FIG. 17 , the fourinspection modules 4 are arranged in the vertical direction. In thesecond exemplary embodiment as described above, since each inspectionmodule 4 is configured to be provided detachably from the housing 11 ofthe carrier block D5, the same as in the first exemplary embodiment, themaintenance can be performed easily.

Furthermore, since the inspection module 4 is fitted into the opening 22of the housing 11 from the outside of the housing 11, the inspectionmodule 4 may be provided such that a part thereof is protruded from thehousing 11 of the carrier block. That is, since the occupying space ofthe inspection module 4 within the apparatus is reduced, it may nothappen that the inspection module 4 cannot be provided as other modulesare added or provided within the apparatus. Further, since theinspection module 4 has the small occupying space and is provideddetachably from the housing 11, it is easy to add the inspection module4 without hampering the operation of the substrate transfer mechanism orthe arrangement of other modules. Furthermore, as clearly seen from thefirst exemplary embodiment and the second exemplary embodiment, inconfiguring the inspection module 4 to be detachable from the housing11, the inspection module 4 may be placed at an end of the row formed bythe load ports and the inspection module 4 in the left-right direction,or may be placed at a center of the row.

The processing module into which the wafer W is transferred from thecarrier block D1 and which are configured to perform processings on thewafer W is not limited to the aforementioned examples. By way ofexample, the processing module may include a module configured to coat achemical liquid for forming an insulating film onto the wafer W, acleaning module configured to supply a cleaning liquid onto the wafer W,or a module configured to supply an adhesive for joining the wafers W,and so forth. Furthermore, there may be provided a processing moduleconfigured to create a vacuum atmosphere through a load lock modulewhich is configured to be switchable between an atmospheric atmosphereand a vacuum atmosphere, for example. In such a case, processings suchas CVD, ALD or etching can be performed by supplying a processing gas tothe wafer W. Moreover, the present disclosure is not limited to theabove-described examples, and the examples may be appropriately modifiedor combined.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that the exemplary embodimentof the present disclosure has been described herein for purposes ofillustration, and that various modifications may be made withoutdeparting from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.Accordingly, the embodiment disclosed herein is not intended to belimiting. The scope of the inventive concept is defined by the followingclaims and their equivalents rather than by the detailed description ofthe exemplary embodiment. It shall be understood that all modificationsand embodiments conceived from the meaning and scope of the claims andtheir equivalents are included in the scope of the inventive concept.

The claims of the present application are different and possibly, atleast in some aspects, broader in scope than the claims pursued in theparent application. To the extent any prior amendments orcharacterizations of the scope of any claim or cited document madeduring prosecution of the parent could be construed as a disclaimer ofany subject matter supported by the present disclosure, Applicantshereby rescind and retract such disclaimer. Accordingly, the referencespreviously presented in the parent applications may need to berevisited.

We claim:
 1. A substrate processing apparatus, comprising: a first loadport and a second load respectively configured to place thereon atransfer container accommodating a substrate therein; a processing unitconfigured to perform a processing on the substrate; an inspectionmodule provided between the first load port and the second load port ina left-right direction, and configured to inspect the substrate beforeor after the processing by the processing unit is performed; a firstsubstrate transfer mechanism provided at a first side of the inspectionmodule in the left-right direction, and configured to transfer thesubstrate into the transfer container placed on the first load port; anda second substrate transfer mechanism provided at a second side of theinspection module opposite to the first side in the left-rightdirection, and configured to transfer the substrate into the transfercontainer placed on the second load port.
 2. The substrate processingapparatus of claim 1, wherein the first load port, the second load portand the inspection module are arranged in a row in the left-rightdirection.
 3. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein atleast one of the first load port and the second load port is composed ofmultiple load ports, and the multiple load ports include an upper loadport and a lower load port which are arranged vertically.
 4. Thesubstrate processing apparatus of claim 3, wherein the upper load portis equipped with a rotating door configured to open/close a transferopening for the substrate by being rotated around a rotation axis whichcorresponds to a forward-backward direction.
 5. The substrate processingapparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a control unit configured tooutput a control signal such that one of the first substrate transfermechanism and the second substrate transfer mechanism performs, betweena receipt of the substrate from the transfer container and a transfer ofthe substrate into the transfer container, only the receipt of thesubstrate from the transfer container, and such that the other of thefirst substrate transfer mechanism and the second substrate transfermechanism performs, between the receipt of the substrate from thetransfer container and the transfer of the substrate into the transfercontainer, only the transfer of the substrate into the transfercontainer.
 6. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, furthercomprising: a standby unit in which the substrate stands by before beingcarried into the inspection module, and wherein the first and secondtransfer mechanism are configured to receive and transfer the substrate.7. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 6, wherein a firsthousing is provided to accommodate therein the first substrate transfermechanism, the second substrate transfer mechanism and the standby unit,the first housing is provided with a sidewall at which a transferopening for the substrate constituting the first load port and atransfer opening for the substrate constituting the second load port areopened, and the first housing is provided separately from the processingunit.
 8. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 7, wherein theinspection module is equipped with a second housing accommodatingtherein the substrate to inspect the substrate, and the second housingis detachably fitted from an outside of the first housing into anopening provided at the sidewall of the first housing.
 9. The substrateprocessing apparatus of claim 6, wherein the inspection module comprisesa placing unit configured to place thereon the substrate transferred bythe second substrate transfer mechanism, and the standby unit and theplacing unit are vertically arranged to be overlapped with each other.10. The substrate processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein theinspection module is plural in number, and the inspection modules arerespectively arranged at a left side and a right side of the first loadport or the second load port.
 11. The substrate processing apparatus ofclaim 1, further comprising: a placing unit for the transfer containerprovided under the first load port and the second load port, andconfigured to allow the transfer container to stand by thereon; and atransfer mechanism for the transfer container configured to transfer thetransfer container between the first load port or the second load portand the placing unit for the transfer container.